


All parts there made one prisoner

by Molias



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alien/Human Relationships, Biting, Communication, Consent, Fear, No Safeword, Other, Pain, Paralysis, also they're on a space station, manual sex, not entirely safe sex, sexual uses for venom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:33:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25294747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molias/pseuds/Molias
Summary: Colin's partner is coming for a visit after several weeks away, and he's hoping they'll be willing to fulfill an intense sexual fantasy he's been too nervous to discuss until now. When your big alien lover has huge sharp fangs, it's not weird to think about them biting you and injecting you with paralytic fear-venom, right?....right????
Relationships: Original Male Character(s)/Original Non-Binary Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19
Collections: Shousetsu Bang*Bang





	All parts there made one prisoner

**Author's Note:**

> I want to be clear in the tags what sort of things happen in this story, but this is very sweet and loving at its core; a character does have his ability to safeword or otherwise revoke consent completely removed, for a time, but he agrees to it beforehand.  
> Also Zere is tagged as nonbinary for the purposes of AO3's tagging system; it would be more accurate to say that their species just doesn't have a concept of sex or gender other than what they've learned about the ways humans conceptualize it.

Colin was in the middle of straightening up his living quarters for the third time, nervously placing and re-placing the throw pillows on his small sofa, when his tablet chimed to signal an incoming call. He nearly dropped the tablet in his haste to grab it from the table, and took a moment to steady himself before answering. It wouldn't do to let his nerves overtake him entirely before the day had even started.

"Hello, my darling!" Zere's deep, melodic voice rang out at him, and Colin felt at least half of the tension in his body melt away at the sound of it. "Our shuttle's nearly there, and we should be finished with docking and decontamination in half an hour. I need to drop off soil samples first thing, I've been told, but once I finish up at the lab I thought I'd come right by, if you'll be free."

"Of course I will," Colin said. "I'd love to see you as soon as I can, you know that." He hadn't been free, originally, but his supervisor had taken pity on him, once she'd learned Zere was arriving on a rare visit from their regular post on the Ehring-IV colony, and she had allowed Colin to rearrange his schedule so he could have a few days off in a row. He was going to have to make it up in the coming week by working a handful of extra shifts, but it would be worth it to have the majority of the next three days to spend with Zere. 

A long-distance relationship wasn't what either of them had been looking for, but they'd managed to make it work for a nearly a year already, and Zere had mentioned asking about a transfer to the main lab on the station once their contract on Ehring-IV ended. That wouldn't be for another two years, of course, but Colin had been pleased to know Zere was already invested enough in the relationship to consider requesting a transfer in the first place. 

It wasn't a surprise, of course, to know Zere felt this way; sulka tended to be much better about saying what they were thinking than even the most emotionally expressive humans Colin had come across, so he'd heard no shortage of endearments in the months since they had started their partnership, but it was gratifying to hear all the same. 

"I want to stay close to you," Zere'd murmured, late one night as they held Colin after sex, their secondary arms wrapped tightly around his waist as they combed their blunted claws gently through his hair. "It's painful to be away for so long." They nuzzled their long snout against his cheek. "I give myself a day to mourn, every time I leave the station."

Colin hadn't known that, and it was both sweet and a little sad to think of Zere in their tiny compartment on the inter-system shuttle, reciting their sorrows hourly for the first day of travel. He wasn't sure he was important enough to be mourned, especially when Zere usually made it back to the station to see him every three or four months, but he was touched by their admission. "If you can," he'd said, relaxing into Zere's touch, "I'd love that. It's painful for me, too, when you're not here."

That was a plan for the future, though; for now, they had to make the most of these short visits, and Colin was impatient for Zere to be finished with the pile of small details they'd have to sort out after docking so he could get to the important business of kissing his partner.

And, if he was brave enough, the important business of asking them to do something else with their mouth entirely. He thought of Zere's thick, sharp fangs and how they felt scraping along the delicate skin where his neck met his shoulder, or carefully biting into the meat of his thigh. What it might feel like if they bit just a bit harder, relaxed and let their—

"I'm glad to hear you're as eager to see me as I am to see you," Zere said, bringing Colin's focus back to the present; while shuttle communications didn't have video output, Colin could imagine the tilt of their head and the subtle flare of their crest that would indicate excitement. "You said there was something you wanted to ask me about once I arrived, didn't you?"

Colin felt himself flush from his neck to the tips of his ears. "I—yes. There is."

"Something you're embarrassed about?"

"Maybe? It's. It's a sex thing, and I don't know how you'll react or even how I feel about wanting it, and I don't think I can talk about it without having you here." Colin's words came out in a rush, and he wished desperately that he could be as calm when talking about sensitive or emotional topics as Zere could.

"Oh? Hmm." Zere's interest was evident in the trill that rippled through their hummed response. "I look forward to hearing about it, whatever it is. There's no shame in asking for what you want, my love."

"What if there is, this time?" Colin wasn't even sure if what he wanted to ask was culturally acceptable at all; his limited research hadn't made that clear.

"There won't be," Zere said, gently. "Whether or not I'm interested. I do hope, though, that no matter what exactly we decide on, you'll want to indulge me tonight. I haven't touched you in so long, I can't bear to wait much longer."

"You won't have to," Colin said, and a shiver of desire ran down his spine. Zere was an attentive lover even at the worst of times, but when they'd been apart for a while, or Zere was in a particular mood, they were relentless in their pursuit of Colin's pleasure, and their own. "I haven't touched myself in a week." He smiled at the quiet hiss of surprise that admission drew out of them. "I'm ready for you."

"I'll do my best to get through the bureaucracy of my return as quickly as possible, then," Zere said. "We're docking now, so I need to run, but I should see you in an hour or so, my love."

"I'll be here," Colin said cheerfully, but as soon as the call disconnected he fell backwards onto the couch and let out an exaggerated groan. "Augh, why did they have to remember I said anything? Why did I open my big mouth in the first place?" He buried his face in the pile of throw pillows. "Why can't I stop thinking about it?"

He didn't have time to wallow in his embarrassment, thankfully. While he'd neatened up his living quarters already, he wanted to take a quick shower and throw together an assortment of refreshments in case Zere wanted anything to nibble on once they arrived, and those small tasks took just enough time that he'd just gotten dressed and was combing his fingers through his curls to neaten them out when he heard the door chime.

Colin had spent plenty of time around Zere, much of it in close, intimate situations, but there was still always something a little startling about the moment they stood before him after a long absence. Sulka, in Colin's opinion, were universally beautiful, although he knew not all humans shared this opinion. It could be an unsettling beauty, for sure, but Colin felt that made them all the more captivating. While they didn't have insectlike features, the sulkan tendency towards pastel coloration and tall, lanky builds meant they often made Colin think of footage of an orchid mantis he'd seen, years and years ago. 

"Hello, my love!" Zere said, the moment the door slid open, and before Colin could respond he was scooped up into a tight embrace. Zere's secondary arms held his waist while they cupped his face with one hand and not-so-subtly grabbed his ass with the other. They nuzzled and licked at Colin's neck in greeting; with their long snout, human-style kissing was difficult, but they'd found plenty of workarounds. Zere held him close for another few seconds and Colin happily melted into their embrace, feeling the worst of his nervous tension bleed out of him as it was replaced by the comfort of having his partner close again.

"Fuck, you smell so good," Colin murmured, once Zere let go. Perhaps not the most romantic greeting, but he always missed Zere's warm, earthy scent when they were away, and it was always a comforting part of spending time together. "Come sit with me, and tell me about your trip," he said, tugging Zere over to the sofa. He wanted to stay as close to them as possible for the rest of the night.

Zere's four-day trip on the shuttle had been mostly uneventful, so from there they proceeded to fill Colin in on the news and gossip from their research outpost on Ehring-IV. Colin hadn't met any of Zere's coworkers or fellow researchers, and didn't know the first thing about collecting and analyzing soil samples, but that didn't make him any less happy to curl up next to them and listen. He found Zere's work interesting, even if he didn't always understand it, and it was an excuse to bask in the feeling of Zere's arms around him and soak in the sound of their sweet, low voice. Long-distance communication was fine, but it flattened some of the expressiveness of sulkan speech patterns and Colin always enjoyed falling in love with Zere's voice just a little more every time they saw each other after time apart.

Eventually, Colin settled between Zere's legs and leaned back against their chest. He rested his hands over the point where Zere's secondary arms were wrapped low around his waist and tilted his head back to sneak in kisses to Zere's cheek and snout while they talked. It was the most relaxed he'd felt in a long time.

Zere shifted restlessly as they wrapped up a story about a feud their lab had with the xenobiologists who shared the research outpost with them, and gave Colin's earlobe a gentle nip. "I haven't heard much from you," they purred. "Wasn't there something you were going to ask me about?" A hand slid inside the loose neckline of Colin's shirt and their claw traced a lazy circle around his nipple.

Colin fought the urge to arch up into their touch and nudge one of the hands at his waist a little lower as embarrassed anticipation surged through him. He both wanted to ask the question he'd been turning over in his mind for weeks and wished Zere could forget he ever said anything about it at all, so he could avoid this entire conversation.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I wasn't sure if this was something it was all right to ask you about," he said, quietly.

Zere stopped teasing at Colin's chest in favor of wrapping all four arms around him in a tight hug, resting their cheek against his as they spoke. "Are you worried because you think this is something I won't like, or because you think it's something you shouldn't want?"

"Both, I think."

Zere gave their best approximation of a kiss, a sweet brush of their lips, to Colin's cheek. "We already know how to have sex we both enjoy, right?"

Colin nodded.

"And we both had to do some work to get there, if you'll recall. We've gotten through some awkward moments before; whatever it is you want to talk about, you know I'm here to listen. I want to try new things with you." They tangled a hand in Colin's hair and pulled gently, just enough to expose more of his neck. "Or," they said lightly, "if you'd really rather not discuss it right now, I could have fun with you in the way I know you like." They grazed their teeth over Colin's neck and bit down gently, with just enough pressure to remind him how much harder they could be, on the meat of his shoulder. 

Even through the fabric of his shirt, it was enough to make Colin moan. It was tempting to take the out Zere was being sweet enough to offer him, to set aside his deeper desire for now and let himself get swept up in what was guaranteed to be fantastic sex that he knew they both craved, after months apart. He almost did it.

But the sharp sting of Zere's fangs reminded him of every stray thought he'd been having for weeks—and there had been a lot of them—about what it might feel like to have them bite him with a different intent. 

"Fuck," Colin said. "Yeah, I. I want to talk about it." He took a deep breath. "Didn't you tell me once that your birth family is pretty traditional?"

"That's right," Zere said, cautiously. "Less so than some families, I suppose, but yes, you could say that."

"That means they wouldn't have had your venom sacs removed when you were young, right?" 

Colin felt Zere go very still; their secondary arms tightened their embrace just a bit. They hummed with surprise, a deep musical note that rumbled through Colin's entire body. "Most families find it tacky to leave their children intact, these days, but mine didn't believe in removing any part of my 'biological heritage,'" they said. "I remember that was my parents' phrase exactly, when I prepared to come of age." They licked Colin's neck and slipped their long, flexible tongue under Colin's shirt, where their hand had gone a moment before. "Why do you ask?"

Colin pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes and groaned. Surely Zere knew why he asked; that should have made it easier to say what he wanted, but it didn't. "Argh, because I watched some venom porn," he said, his words tumbling out in a rush. 

"What was that?" Zere's voice was soft and teasing; Colin was certain they'd heard him properly and just wanted to make him repeat himself.

"I stumbled across some porn a few weeks ago, where a human woman got, uh, envenomated? Is that the word? by her partner." Colin removed his hands from his face, but couldn't bear to look up at Zere to see their reaction. "And I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Zere said. They carded their fingers through Colin's hair, letting their claws scrape lightly against his scalp in a way they knew Colin found calming. "Is that something you want to try out with me? We can talk about it."

Colin nodded, untensing a bit at Zere's touch. He shifted until he was lying in Zere's lap and took a moment to enjoy the gentle scratch of their claws and the warmth he felt where his cheek pressed against their thigh. Zere always ran hot, like a big lanky space heater, and it made cuddling them extra comforting. "I think I do, yeah," he said, "but it's a lot to think about. I'm still wrapping my mind around it. I know we need to talk about it first."

"We do," Zere said, gently. "Do you want to tell me about the video you saw, and how it made you feel?"

"Sure, let me just..." Colin trailed off. "Let me think for a sec."

Zere, bless them, was extremely patient when Colin needed a moment like this. Sulka tended to be skilled at communicating their needs and talking about their feelings openly, and while Colin had always thought he was a decent communicator, before spending time around many sulka, he was miserable when compared with even the most reserved of them. It had taken some time, early in their relationship, for Zere to understand that Colin wasn't trying to be surly or closed-off when he struggled to explain himself, and once they understood the gulf between their comfort levels Zere'd been extremely patient with him. Still, Colin knew he needed to be better about just spitting things out when he felt nervous. 

He hadn't gone looking for venom porn. He hadn't known it existed, that _venom_ was a concept one could merge with _pornography_ in the first place. It had been late, and he'd been idly masturbating on and off for a while, feeling turned on and lazy and too restless to go to sleep, so he'd fired up his standard searches to see if any new videos had popped up that might catch his interest. 

A clip labeled "Intact sulka venom xxx" had caught his eye, mostly because he wasn't sure what that meant in a sexual context, and after it was finished and he'd picked his jaw off the floor, he wound up hunting down as many venom-play clips as he could find. 

There weren't many, only a half-dozen or so, and most weren't to his taste at all; they were too rough in a way he didn't like, too close to actual predator/prey roleplay for his tastes. But there was one video, featuring a gorgeous, thickset woman who looked like she could wrestle and pin a sulka with no problem, and her elegant, compact sulka partner who treated her with such care and tenderness, even when she had no control over her body and was trembling beneath them, that it felt... powerful. And sweet, too, in a way he wasn't sure he could articulate. 

"I found it by accident, I guess, and most of what I saw didn't do anything for me. I don't want to feel conquered, or hunted, or have someone be a dick to me during sex, you know that. But I do like when you overpower me and scratch me up a bit, because I'm a weirdo who likes being hurt during sex sometimes." 

Zere's claws scraped a bit harder as they grabbed a handful of Colin's thick curls and tugged, very gently. "Not a weirdo. You like what you like, and there's no shame in that." 

"Okay, okay," Colin said. He reached up and patted Zere's chest, feeling the smooth expanse of their pectoral plates beneath their thin shirt. "I'm a perfectly normal person who likes being hurt during sex sometimes." 

Zere flicked their crest up briefly in a signal of fond exasperation. "That's better, thank you." 

"But." Colin paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Sometimes I feel like I do want to be scared, a little bit, during sex. It's because I feel so safe with you; I know you aren't going to seriously hurt me, or push me too much. But I think I want to be pushed a little more, and feel afraid in a situation where I know that no matter how scared I am, you're in control and you won't let anything happen that I can't handle."

He shifted in Zere's lap so he could stare up into their eyes, dark and piercing and unmistakably alien. But safe, too, and familiar. He took Zere's hand from his head and held it, soft fingers slotting neatly between their imposing claws. "I've had that feeling for a while but wasn't sure what to do with it, I guess. It was just a half-formed thought in my mind, that I felt ready for something more intense without knowing what that could be. But seeing that venom porn clip, man. That did something to me." 

He reached up and touched his thumb to the smooth side of Zere's fang, which peeked out of their mouth even when their jaw was closed. "I trust you enough to do that for you. To, uh, offer myself to you, I guess. If you want."

"How much do you know about what my venom would do to you, if I bit you?" Zere asked, cautiously. 

Colin shivered a bit just from hearing Zere ask the question. Suddenly, now that he'd admitted out loud that he wanted this, he was no longer able to hide his enthusiasm for the idea. Zere biting him harder than they had before, sinking their sharp fangs in and releasing inside him...yeah, he wanted it. He felt like a complete weirdo for it, but he couldn't deny it.

"I'd be unable to move, at least mostly, for somewhere around a half hour. The place where you bit me would hurt like hell the next day, and would probably have a scar when it healed." He closed his eyes and squeezed Zere's hand. "And I'd be scared of you. At least a little."

"And that appeals to you," Zere said, slowly. Not a question, exactly, but a confirmation. 

"Fuck, it really does. I don't know why, but. Yeah."

"You just told me why, darling," Zere said, leaning down to lick delicately at Colin's cheek. "You feel safe with me, and you like to hurt, a little bit, and you want to take these familiar things to a deeper place."

 _Oh_ , Colin thought. _That's it exactly_. "It always sounds better when you say these things, somehow," he grumbled. He brought Zere's hand to his mouth and kissed it. 

"I hadn't considered biting you like this," Zere said. "I certainly wouldn't have suggested it, without you bringing it up first." Colin felt the buzzing anxiety that had just started to calm surge up again, and opened his mouth to reply, but Zere settled a hand over his chest and pressed down gently, their meaning clear. _Calm down_ , the pressure said. _Don't let your worry get ahead of yourself_.

"But," they continued, "that doesn't mean I don't like the thought of it. Seeing how much this affects you, just to talk about. I can feel your heart racing." The hand on Colin's chest rubbed small circles over his heart, and Colin gasped when one blunt claw flicked against his nipple. "Just discussing this arouses you, doesn't it?"

Colin nodded.

"Let's keep talking, then," Zere said, "but why don't you take this off first?" They plucked at the hem of Colin's shirt and helped pull it over his head when he sat up eagerly. Colin straddled Zere's thighs, shivering briefly in the cool air of his room before Zere's secondary arms settled low on his hips. He could feel the heat radiating from their skin.

"If I were to bite you," Zere murmured, "where do you think I should do it?" They reached a hand down to squeeze at the generous curve of Colin's ass and his thick thigh, and he moaned at the pinprick sharpness of the unblunted claws on their secondary hands. "Down here, where there's so much to sink my teeth into?"

"Yeah," Colin said, ready to say yes to anything at this point. He grabbed the back of Zere's head, right at the base of their crest where he knew they were sensitive, and pulled their head down for a kiss. "Anywhere. Please."

"Anywhere?" Zere echoed. They curled their lip back, baring their fangs, and rubbed the side of their snout into Zere's neck. "I could do it here," they said. Carefully, they opened their jaw and rested their teeth at the junction of Colin's neck and shoulder. 

Colin moaned at the feel of it; there was no pressure yet but he could feel the promise of it, the potential stored in that narrow, powerful jaw. He was hard now, and he tried to press in closer so he could rut against Zere's abdomen but was held just out of reach by all four arms.

"Everyone who saw the scars afterwards would know what you let me do to you," Zere said. They nipped Colin's shoulder very gently with their frontmost teeth and laughed when Colin whined and tried to buck forward again. "I can tell you like the sound of that, but I'd rather know there's a mark hidden under your clothes that only I get to see." They squeezed his upper thigh again, thoughtfully. "Right here, I think."

Colin pressed their thumb into the base of Zere's crest where the skin was smoother, and grinned at their deep rumble of arousal. "Will you?" he asked. 

Zere loosened their embrace and leaned down so they were eye to eye with Colin. "If you're sure," they said. "Once I bite you, if it's too much to handle the only thing you'll be able to do is ride it out. You may not be able to communicate with me."

Colin stroked the soft underside of Zere's jaw. "I know this is a little reckless. I'm honestly not sure if it's a good idea or not, but I still want you to, Zere, I really do. Does that make sense?"

"It does," Zere said, "and I'm happy to indulge you." They grinned widely, and ran their tongue over their fangs. Colin couldn't tear his eyes away from them. So much of Zere's sharpness was filed down or carefully restrained, and Colin wanted a taste of it in its raw state.

Whether or not a taste was more than he could take remained to be seen, but he wanted to risk it. He'd played it safe in so much of his life and the thought of taking a risk with Zere, giving up control to them for a while, was as enticing as it was terrifying.

"I'm ready," Colin said, before shaking his head. "Honestly, I'm probably not. But I'm as ready as I can get, I think."

\------------------------

The bite, when it came, was more intense than Colin had imagined it could be.

He was reclining on a couple pillows Zere had arranged for him, already desperately hard from Zere's wandering hands—with four of them, it was twice as easy to feel overwhelmed—and his nervous anticipation for what was to come. He was scared, there was no way around it, but he trusted Zere. He wanted this. He'd be fine. 

"You're teasing me," he whined, as Zere licked and snuffled their way up Colin's thigh, pointedly ignoring the erection bobbing just inches from their face. "Just—the waiting's gonna kill me."

"I'm looking for the best spot," Zere replied. "I think I've found it." They kneaded a spot high on Colin's outer thigh, thick with muscle and a plush layer of fat, and gave it a little nip. They reached a hand for Colin's and gave his fingers a squeeze. "I'll take care of you, love." 

They didn't ask if Colin was ready, and Colin didn't mind; the only honest answer he could give was _of course not, but do it anyway._

So they did.

The first bloom of pain was deliciously familiar; he was well acquainted with the shape and feel of Zere's teeth on his body. Then their jaw closed further, tighter, and Colin wailed as their fangs finally breached the soft flesh of his thigh and sunk in, pressing and _oh fuck_ , he thought, _tearing_ deeper than he'd imagined. He sobbed and gripped Zere's hand as tightly as he could, willing himself to keep breathing.

In the space between breaths two and three, when he'd convinced himself he could handle the pain, a burst of heat rushed into him, crackling across his nerves like a prairie fire sweeping across dry grass. He dropped Zere's hand in surprise and pressed his hand clumsily to his face. There were tears in his eyes already. 

_What the fuck, what the hell am I doing?_ he thought, in a panic. _I can't do this._ He tried to keep an eye on Zere, who had pulled away and was watching him intently, but his head felt so heavy that he dropped it back on the pillow. His hand slid off of his face and landed stiffly on his chest, and he had no choice but to let it lie there. He felt like a heavy stone sinking into the ocean. 

Zere loomed over him, and while part of Colin understood their facial expression to be one of care and concern, the louder, more frantic voice inside him saw only a predator's eyes and an unending maw of teeth. There was a smear of blood, small but a conspicuous red against their lavender skin, on their upper lip, and Colin couldn't tear his gaze from it.

"You can't get away from me, can you?" Zere asked, and despite their words, Colin felt himself calm down just a bit. That voice was familiar, beloved, and he wrapped it around himself like a lifeline. He tried to shake his head, to let Zere know he was helpless, but all he managed was rolling it to one side. 

"Shh, darling, don't try to move, you know you can't. Let me take care of you." They rose from the bed and stood next to it, impossibly tall. Had Colin ever understood how much taller than him Zere was? How much stronger, and more dangerous? "You can't help but let me," Zere said, tracing a line from Colin's chin to his groin with their claw, and even in his panic Colin felt his cock twitch. "You'll let me do anything to you that I want, because you don't have a choice." 

_I chose this_ , Colin thought, and it swept the most frantic edge of his fear away. _I can't move, and I can't stop them, but I wouldn't. I don't want to._ As his panic started to subside, the searing pain of the venom did, as well; instead of relentless heat his body was consumed by a dull, strange ache, impossible to ignore but not unbearable. It was almost akin to the pain of a deep bruise, but there was something else to it that he couldn't place. It was difficult, of course, to think too much on the manner of pain he was feeling, when he was still trying to calm down and keep an eye on Zere.

"I might keep you like this," Zere said casually. "A decoration I can play with when I want." They gently squeezed Colin's thigh just below where they'd bitten him. It hurt, of course, a sudden wash of pain, and not being able to move or react at all made it hurt worse. "I could sink my teeth back in you when you started squirming, and have my way with you for longer." They stretched out next to him, one leg draped over his unbitten thigh, and licked his neck where he could feel the faint prickling of sweat. He couldn't see them, from where his head was slumped to one side, but he could feel their breath and the heat of their body radiating into him, less painful than the fiery rush of the venom but far more arousing.

Zere shifted slightly, slipping their hands beneath Colin's ass and shoulder to gently roll him onto his side. "I'm going to see if I can move you, just a bit," they said. "I'll be careful." 

Colin wanted to help, to move himself or at least not let every part of him fall slack and useless to the bed the moment Zere let go, but all he could do was be rolled and tugged and arranged just how Zere wanted him: on his side with one leg splayed wide and draped over Zere where they were spooned up behind him, so they could easily slide any of their free limbs between his legs and caress his half-hard cock or press teasingly against the tender flesh next to the bruise already forming on his thigh. 

He was motionless and vulnerable, at the mercy of a nearly eight-foot-tall alien who could easily rip him apart. He couldn't move, couldn't ask them to stop, couldn't do a goddamn thing but wait and accept whatever Zere wanted to do with him. And somehow, beneath the pain and the fear and every instinct screaming at him that this was wrong and dangerous, a strange peace was welling up from someplace very deep within him. 

"You're so small," Zere crooned, as they curled around him, tall enough to tuck Colin's head under their chin while their feet stretched several inches past Colin's own. "Tiny and soft and helpless." They slid an arm under Colin's neck, supporting his head and pointing it so he could watch as they reached for his cock with a secondary hand. "I don't usually touch you here with these hands," they said calmly, as if they were discussing what to order in for dinner later on. "I wouldn't want to hurt you by accident." They flexed their fingers, letting their sleek, unblunted claws reflect the overhead light, and tapped the head of Colin's cock, so lightly he barely felt the sting of it, with the sharp tip of the longest one. "But tonight, I think I'll take the risk. If you hold very still, you should be fine."

Zere laughed, then, low and dangerous into Colin's ear; it was a joke, between them, that Colin couldn't stay still during sex no matter how hard he tried. He was always arching into Zere's touch, grabbing for their hand or pillow or something else to hold onto when his arousal built until it was almost unbearable, flailing his leg wildly if he came hard enough. They'd had to be careful with Zere's sharper parts, because of this, and part of that was that Zere tended to touch his cock and other sensitive areas only with the hands they used most often, where the claws were thicker and filed to keep them blunt. Their secondary hands were sharp-clawed, still, as most sulka kept them; unblunted claws were useful for many everyday purposes, of course.

Such as tormenting one's soft-skinned human partner.

Zere retrieved a bottle of lube they'd stashed at the head of the bed and squirted some into their hand before re-settling behind Colin. They adjusted his head again, making sure he could still see what they were doing, and a distant part of Colin's venom-clouded mind wondered whether Zere wanted to give him the comfort of knowing what they were doing or hoped to torment him further by showing him an assortment of sharp, deadly claws wrapped carefully around his cock. Possibly it was both.

It was almost unbearable, to feel the hot, slick slide of Zere's hand as they slowly stroked his cock and not be able to thrust up into it, or react at all. They'd tried mild restraints in the past, of course, but half the fun of restraints was pulling against them, making a show of fighting against the thing he'd asked so nicely for. This was different; there was no way to move into a touch or away from it, no way to chase his pleasure or nudge Zere's hand or mouth just where he wanted it. 

_I can't do anything_ , he thought.

"I can do anything I want," Zere purred, snout right next to his ear, as if responding to his thoughts. They licked his earlobe before nipping and pulling it sharply at the same time their hand tightened around his cock. He felt the pinprick of a clawtip, careful and deliberate, before Zere sped up their movement and bit down again.

Colin wanted to scream out, to shove Zere's fingers in his mouth, to do something with the restless energy building in him; while his fear had lessened somewhat, this wave of tension with no outlet made him feel as if his heart might burst before he could move again. His arousal felt strange, mixed with that deep, persistent ache, and with each sharp bite to his neck or shoulder, each time he stared at the fistful of thorns surrounding his cock, and each low growl or murmur from Zere, he was pushed closer to a release that felt as terrifying as it did inevitable. 

"That's it, my love," Zere said, and Colin only noticed he'd started to cry when they tenderly licked a tear from his cheek. "I'm here." They licked over the tender places where they'd bit him and jerked his cock faster, rubbing their thumb over the head on every upstroke the way they knew he liked. They were careful now not to let their claws catch on his skin. 

Colin's orgasm took him by surprise; he was so used to how he'd tense and tighten his hips when the moment approached, and so unused to the confusing tangle of pain and arousal he was feeling, that he hardly knew it was happening until he felt a sharp spike of pain, as deep and delicious as when Zere bit into him, and saw himself ejaculate, spilling across his belly and Zere's sharp claws.

Zere stroked him through it, murmuring soft words of praise and comfort, then settled him back against a nest of pillows while they thoroughly licked him clean. "You're amazing," they said, once they were finished. "I can't believe you trusted me this much." Zere found a soft blanket to pull up over them both and kissed Colin on the forehead before settling next to him.

"Fnngghh," Colin said, in an attempt to thank them; some of his muscles were waking up again. He wiggled a finger, and Zere slid their hand under his so he'd be able to slot their fingers together the moment he could move well enough. 

He drifted for a little while, trying to focus only on the feeling of Zere's claws combing gently through his hair and the gradual ebbing of the deep ache that rolled beneath his skin. As it lessened, movement slowly returned; he clumsily took Zere's hand as soon as he was able, then managed to turn his head so he could look into their eyes. 

They were no longer the impersonal eyes of a predator, when he wasn't looking through the haze of venom-induced fear; instead, they were soft with concern as they searched his face for any sign of more tears. "How are you feeling?" Zere asked, quietly. "Squeeze my hand to tell me you're all right, if you can't speak yet."

"I—" Colin sighed and gripped Zere's hand tighter as he tried to remember how his mouth worked. "Good. I'm okay."

"Are you still in pain?"

"A little, but I'm all right." Colin experimentally bent a leg and winced when his knee cracked. "Mostly just stiff, I think. And my thigh fucking hurts, but. I expected that. And don't apologize," he said, seeing Zere's expression change. "I asked you for it, and you were perfect. Fuck, I can't believe we did that." He tucked himself clumsily against Zere's chest. "I didn't get you off, though, so maybe I should apologize."

"If I can't apologize, love, neither can you," Zere said. "Will it make you feel better if I tell you I have plenty of ideas of how you could repay me, tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Colin was feeling warm and sleepy, exhausted from the aftereffects of the venom. "Can I eat you out?"

"That's at the top of the list."

"Good." Colin knew he'd have to get up in a moment, that hydrating and stretching his legs were an important part of recovery, but he wanted to stay in Zere's cozy embrace as long as possible first, coasting on endorphins and the strange echoes of pain that still rippled through his body. "Thank you," he said. He kissed the back of Zere's hand and let his lips linger on their thick, dark claws. "It means a lot, that you were willing to do that for me."

"Your trust in me means just as much," Zere said. "Don't think this was something only you enjoyed, just because you had an orgasm and I didn't. You don't owe me anything for an experience I was happy to share with you."

"Can I still—"

"Yes, my love," Zere said fondly, although Colin was sure he'd see their crest twitching in exasperation if he looked up. "You can still eat me out tomorrow."

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from ye olde horny poem The Vine by Robert Herrick. Ah, if only my seventeenth-century literature professor could see me now!  
> This originally ran in [Shousetsu Bang*Bang Issue #83](https://www.shousetsubangbang.com/mirror/frontpage/bang-bang-no-83/).


End file.
